The rise of the 'remakequel': How this one type of movie ruled the box office in 2015

If you felt that some of the biggest movies this year were very familiar to those you'd seen in your youth, you're not alone.

Four of the most gigantic blockbusters in 2015 heavily extracted movie plots and characters that were popular decades ago to create hits that are hard to define - a relatively new, unique, and apparently successful breed in Hollywood.

Some have called them "legacyquels" or "remakequels." They're ostensibly sequels, but ones that closely follow the models of their franchises' origins, and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," already clearly the biggest movie of the year, is a prime example.

However you want to label them, Hollywood sees their worth - so expect more.

But let's look back on why we had a sense of deja vu watching these four movies.